Rating: 
Summary: I also would like to hear wht the author is up to...
Review: Like an earlier poster, I would be interested in finding out how the author is faring lately. I disagree that he was misleading, though. He states clearly that he is a short term trader, and discusses the methods he uses. Interestingly, he is similar to the famous fundamental fund manager Peter Lynch, in that he feels its more an art than a science. While Lynch uses his talents for a long term stock picking approach, the author is strictly a short term trader. I found it interesting in that I have never really followed the sentiment approach, or trading at all really, but it gives an interesting insight into the other half of the stock market world.
Rating: 
Summary: Terrific Book! On my third reading!
Review: One of the more enjoyable and enlightening trading books I've read. This book is part biographical and part nuts-and-bolts trading strategy. Many will identify with the author's early struggles as a trader. It was an inspiration to me how Mr. Smith never gave up on his dream to trade for a living. He is now cranking out $10,000 plus monthly returns and all from an original bankroll of only $2000. Very impressive! Although Mr. Smith only trades stock index futures and mutual funds, his strategies work just as well for stocks and stock options. That's because his techniques are geared towards detecting momentum and divergence tops, bottoms, and continuation trends in the stock market. A must read book for both on-line and off-line traders alike and at a most reasonable price.
Rating: 
Summary: tedious and expired
Review: read several times. at first was very excited as here is someone who has walked the walked, however, if your looking for answers, you won't find here. I've read over and over trying to bring sense to how author trades or insights to use. First, he ONLY trades Funds at this point(present), so those who say he trades futures, options, etc., haven't fully digested the book.Author goes to length to explain an Indicator then several pages later will tell you he finds the indictor doesn't perform any more! Well what does? he spends a lot of time discussing his evolvement as a trader over 19 years!! Lots of talk of momentum and late day reversals, which are suppose to be strong bullish indicators. These don't seem to work as evidenced by 12/6's strong momentum and no follow thru the next day! Also for intra-day trading which I've found to be brutal, unless you enjoy staring at your monitor for 8 hours a day! I've also heard over and over that the Big money is in trading short term (3-10 days) or long term, not intra-day. He does spend time discussing how he USE to trade index futures and some of the patterns he used. However, these too were confusing and contradictory. Ex. "My original price patterns continue to work for me, but only because I filter my trades with the action of the tape." What does that mean? I found books by William O'Neil much more clear and consise. good luck
Rating:
Summary: Strategies and a Story
Review: The author begins by telling his tale as a failing trader struggling to do what has consumed his life since his college days. He takes jobs that are not satisfying in order to supplement his trading capital and daily needs but always his passion and thoughts are of the trade. It is very interesting and captivating story of a home based trader. The authors arsenal consists primarily of sentiment reports and market action(indices) that he translates into contrian(emphasis) trading rules (some firm some not so firm). Success seem to stem from him being in sync with markets and being able to forecast and act on sentiment reports and market action that tells of tops, reversals, or bottoms. And since you don't exit a trade until sentiment or market action dictates, holding periods are longer than a day. The author used mutual funds, futures, etc. The author candidly shares with his readers methods that work and methods that are not nearly as reliable today as in the past. If you used to looking at charts, etc, his trading methods are very different and definately help you see the market as viewpoints where the masses are often wrong and that presistence can lead to success. One of the best trading book I've read!
Rating: 
Summary: Of value only for its discussion of sentiment indicators
Review: The biggest bull market in history that ended in 2000 spawned many "traders" who essentially rode tech stocks all the way up and then wrote trading books about their "expertise". Mr. Smith is one of those people. The author admits to trading for an unbelievable 19 years without making any money (talk about your slow learners!). During half this time, trader Richard Dennis took $400 and traded it into 200 million. The author also admits that during this period, he never reviewed any of his trades to see what was going wrong, and never set any goals as a trader. The book is somewhat schizophrenic in that the author contradicts himself throughout. For example, he slams charts and technical analysis, but then states that one of his best buy signals is a "V-bottom reversal pattern". If this is not technical analysis, what is? He also discusses many sentiment indicators he uses, and then mentions some of them no longer appear to work. I was particularly amused at his antiquated trading technique, whereby he uses a telephone to enter his trades, often times being put on hold. A technophobe, he admits that he cannot use an automatic teller machine, and can barely function on a computer. At one point he gives a phone number he calls to get put/call ratios from the CBOE. Sorry Gary, but this number is no longer in service, and if you want to get CBOE put/call ratios, you must now get them online (which of course is much easier). He now trades only mutual funds, which have several major drawbacks. For example, he must wait until after the market close to enter or exit a position, which can be very costly. Also, most funds now charge a redemption fee if the fund is not held a minimum period of time in order to discourage people "trading" their funds. This book is of value mostly because of its discussion of sentiment indicators, that are essential to understand if one is to become a successful trader. However, all of the sentiment indicators he discusses were mentioned in Norman Fosback's "Stock Market Logic", which was published 25 years ago. Smith states in the book that although he has never successfully traded a significant bear market, he welcomes the opportunity. Although he might be successful if such a market was trending strongly over time to the downside, his trading techniques would not work in the current market, which is essentially sideways and choppy. The current stagnant market could continue in this pattern for years. What would Smith do then, sit on the sidelines for years at a time?
Rating: 
Summary: Re-hash. "Same old Stuff"
Review: The book merely repeats the work of Larry Williams. How many trading books are going to be written that say the same things?
Rating:
Summary: Describes the Art of Trading
Review: The value of Gary's book lies not in its complexity, but rather in its simplicity. If you're looking for the Holy Grail, you won't find it in here. Instead, you'll find a variety of simple indicators and a description of how Gary synthesizes them in order to get a feel for the market. He also cautions against trading our opinion of the market and against bucking the trend. Not exactly earth-shattering advice but believe me it is PRICELESS. These two tidbits will save you months, if not years, of aggravation. Personally, I am a visually-oriented trader that likes a somewhat mechanical approach, so reading about an intuitive/discretionary trader is very insightful. Often I'm too busy trying to pick tops and bottoms whereas Gary's approach involves observing market momentum and entering trades based on his assessment. I may have to change my approach because it's hard to argue with a track record like his.
Rating:
Summary: Distillation of market literature
Review: This book can be best summarised as a distillation of classic stock market indicators with examples of their application over the last few years. The authour does a good job in collating techniques from a wide variety of sources that have helped him in his trading. This information is further supplanted with examples from actual trades and a comphrensive bibliography. Extensive footnotes speak volumes to the author's diligence.
Rating:
Summary: An Immensely Informative Book
Review: This book had more insights into the trading game than any book I have read over the past two decades. It's a rare book by someone who really does make his living as a trader. Mr. Smith believes in reacting to price action instead of predicting or anticipating. He artfully lays out the price patterns, with real life trading examples, that alerts him to major trend changes in the stock market. His chapter on he how uses market sentiment was also very enlightening. This is a must have book.
Rating:
Summary: Not about Online Trading
Review: This book has nothing to do with trading online. It is about futures trading. In fact, the cover says that the book is about online trading and fools you into buying it. The writer says that he is computer phobic and doesn't use computers for trading at all! It seems like a dirty marketing trick. I didn't like the book either. There is nothing that you can repeat for yourself.
| 
